New community fund surpasses initial goal
Fledgling community fundraisers often start off at a crawl, but the new St. Johns Area Community Fund recently hit the ground running.
The St. Johns Area Community Fund, a new endowment managed by the Capital Region Community Foundation, met and exceeded its one-month goal within a single week. The fund gathered initial donations of more than $5,000 with promise pledges totaling an additional $2,000.
“Our committee members are very excited by the level of support we are seeing so early in the development of this project,” said Laura Skriba, St. Johns Area Community Fund Chairperson. “We are well on our way to creating a permanent source of community-funded grants available to not-for-profit organizations within the St. Johns area.”
Established to provide a simple, powerful and highly personal approach for community giving, the fund’s mission is to support initiatives, programs and projects that improve and promote quality of life in the St. Johns area.
Residing within the Capital Region Community Foundation, the fund will allow anyone to make direct or planned financial gifts and contributions to a community foundation endowment dedicated to benefitting St. Johns and its surrounding area. A local advisory board will be established to consider applications and make grants from the fund. The composition of the advisory board will reflect various sectors of the St. Johns community.
The Capital Region Community Foundation invests funds to preserve the value of contributions received, creating permanent assets for local organizations. Annual audits are performed and investment managers undergo periodic review by a governing body to ensure a reasonable rate of return on all funds entrusted to the Foundation.
The group’s year-end target goal is $10,000. That is the amount needed to ensure permanent, designated funding through the Capital Region Community Foundation. In the unlikely event that the new fund does not grow to $10,000 by the December 31, 2009, donations made to that account will be contributed to the St. Johns School Foundation for Excellence.
Donors to the new fund may receive a Michigan Community Foundation Tax Credit in addition to federal tax benefits. A $400 gift from a married couple will only cost them $150 because of a $200 state tax credit and a $50 federal tax benefit (assuming a 25% tax bracket.) For a single person in the same tax bracket a $200 gift will cost just $75. Large corporate taxpayers with Michigan Business Tax liability may receive a state tax credit as high as $5,000, in addition to federal tax benefits.
For more information about this new community fund or to make a donation, call or email any of the following committee members:
Laura Skriba, 989.224.8200 or laura@skribalaw.com;
Paul McNamara, 989.224.3071 or evieandpaul@hotmail.com;
George Ayoub, 989.224.2608 or gayoub@masonicpathways.com;
Jenny McCampbell, 989.224.6134 or Mccampbe@msu.edu;
Heather Hanover, 989.224.0475 or hanover@chartermi.net.
